THR I am the Storm

[danelady]

@Jamie
Hi Jamie. I was searching for a contact number or address for Dr Domat, a dr I've seen several times already in the ER. He's the one who quietly told me I needed a real dr, one who would treat me and my problems as a whole in order to make me FEEL whole and in good working order. 'Physiatrist' is what I'm sure he said. He pointed to my knee and arm on my 'good' side and said my back is not far behind. When I called one of the numbers I found I was informed that Dr Dormat(sp?) only works in hospitals and does not make appointments. I explained the type of Dr I was looking for and was told to hold on while I was connected to someone else and when I asked which dr's office am I connected to, she said this is COR.
I didn't bother checking it out more because I couldn't get in but here is what I just found, also part of the email that was sent to me.

 

[Jamie]

I believe this may be the GP doctor you are looking for:

He's a General Practitioner with Banner Health, so it may be that he's assigned to that hospital where I believe you have gone a couple of times. Perhaps you could make a separate appointment with him and he could make a recommendation for a surgeon. If that's not possible (I'm not sure how these hospitalists work), unfortunately you will have to stay within the physician network associated with your Medicare Advantage plan. This is the bad thing about Advantage plans....you are limited with who you can see and still be covered. For general medical needs that can work fine. But as we age, we tend to have more specialized issues where you might want to hunt out "the good doctors" who can really get the job done for you. It always sounds tempting to have your health insurance cost nothing extra for you as it is with the Advantage plans, but my experience with BoneSmarties in those plans is that they often find they can't get the quality of care needed.

You might consider changing back to a regular Medicare program during Open Season later this calendar year. If you're on regular Part A & B Medicare, you can go to any doctor you like that accepts Medicare patients (and most of them do take regular Medicare). Many people also purchase a supplemental plan with regular Medicare that covers any copays, so you are basically paying nothing. But, this option needs to be one that fits into your budget and it's not as simple as just signing away your Medicare benefits to an Advantage plan and owing nothing across the board. If you decide you want to look into this, there are free advisors to help you navigate all the different policies and help you find something you can afford that offers you better doctor choices. I can help you find one of those services when and if you're ready to pursue this option. While it won't help you right now, given all you've been through I feel like you need this flexibility going forward if you can find a way to squeeze it into your budget.

 

[danelady]

@Jamie
YES!!!! THAT'S HIM!!! He exuded a kind, caring and knowledgeable persona.
Jamie, I totally brought this all on myself and now I'm paying big time for it. I didn't really NEED to have a THR back in 2017, I was just looking to get a cortisone shot to ease the intermittent pain that in no way EVER held me back. When I was growing up, mom, my sis and me, always hiked, skated, went swimming and other activities. I grew up strong and enjoyed exploring, my sister stayed home and collected marriage license certificates....just a joke. Ok, 5, she collected 5. She had a litany of internal problems, I just kept exploring. I birthed a baby and never slowed down. I was in my mid 50's when they bestowed upon me my first tire load: 795 tires had to be rolled out of a 53' trailer. A lot of men refused those loads but I welcomed them. So while I knew every birthday the number got higher I NEVER felt like I was aging. The knee finally had to be replaced in the 90s but I attributed that to a terrible dismount off a pommel horse. I never, ever evereverever imagined myself sick and frail so I got the cheapest Medicare plan, like the rep suggested.
Back in 2017, Dr G was tall, dark and dreamy in an exotic way and when he got down on his knee and painted a beautiful picture of me being strong and active I squealed YES, you can take out my hip (totally blocking out the fact that I was already strong and active, duh) I was so pleased afterwards! I swore that should I ever hit the lottery I'm replacing ALL my joints.
I never thought to ask questions, never thought to say 'show me the x-rays, never thought to ask what could go wrong and what will we do about it. But then that's been my problem with all the men in my life...both real and imaginary.

Long story short (too late for that, right?) barring any unforeseen bad thing happening, I know that back in 2017 I had at least another 10 good years on that hip and I should have waited before getting the surgery, or at least done some research first. My life has now ground to a complete stop and the only salvation offered to me is the Girdlestone? Hand me a shovel so I can dig a hole first.
Yep, need to explore the different Medicare plans now so when October rolls around I'll be ready.
Monsoons starting early I guess. Sitting outside, cool breeze and rain drops on metal roof sooth my achy heart. Thank you Jamie.

 

[danelady]

BTW..
I just want to add that this ordeal through Medicare has not really been all that expensive, lol. I just cringe handing over large sums of money because I'm cheap and hated how my savings kept saying buh-bye Lol.
All I wanted was a good vehicle and a nice camera so I could hide under a bush and take photos of birds, lol. I just don't understand why I had to have so freakin' many surgeries???
Nevermind about that. Weather is cool, gonna pick up dog poop before the monsoon rain arrives in about 30 minutes and turns the dog poop into dog poop soup.

 

[Jamie]

This is the DaneLady spirit I love to see!!! Hon, we WILL get you through this.

Good idea to start researching various Medicare Gap plans now so you’re ready when Open Season begins. Mine is with Blue Cross Blue Shield, but there are many options and all states are different. So you can either do the research yourself or use one of the free advisor services available. Just be sure if you use an advisor that they are not connected with any specific insurance company. Otherwise, they will most certainly push their own products. Once you find a few that look good, send me the links and let me take a look for you before you sign on the dotted line. If this is within your budget, it definitely is the best option. Then, if you can hang on and not dislocate again, after the first of January you can see any surgeon you want that accepts Medicare patients.

Worst case scenario….should there be no option but having the Girdlestone procedure, don’t despair at that. While not as cool and functional as a GOOD hip replacement, it can be a life saver for people who have exhausted everything else with their hip. You may not glide down the runways in a fashion show, but you can be quite mobile. And the risk for infection should be reduced as well, so that would hopefully be a thing of the past. Girdlestone is definitely not the “kiss of death” and a signal you should head for the far depths of the desert to become vulture dinner. But you would want it done by an excellent surgeon that has done them before and knows his stuff….not the people you’re currently working with. I believe they are recommending this option out of desperation on your case. I don’t think you’re at that desperate point yet and still believe that if you can get to a more skilled revision and reconstruction specialist, you may be able to get your hip fixed once and for all. The key is going to be whether or not you can wait out the time required to change insurance.

Don’t beat yourself up for any of these decisions you’ve made in the past that haven’t panned out. That’s just part of life and it’s much more productive to say today is a starting point and where do you go from here than to dwell on the past. We’ll be here to help in whatever way possible. Sending ((((HUGS))))).

 

[danelady]

@Jamie
Haha, thank you Jamie. Yes, I was slipping into despair the last few months. I felt cured and could walk back in January which didn't last long. Then he broke my leg and didn't even tell me! Probably hoped I wouldn't notice. But claiming I'm the one causing my problems really got my dander up and I'm fightin' mad.
Waddling around out there earlier with the poop cleared some of the fog and brought back stuff:
My sign on guy said you don't need all those expensive plans, you'll probably never spend more than a day in the hospital. I had no sooner dotted the 'i' on my name when I seem to have taken up residency on the 3rd floor.
I also remember calling my insurance and asking the woman to please help me, I think I've signed onto the wrong plan. 'Oh no honey, you're on a great plan! You get free exercise classes!' No thanks, the drs you referred me to have crippled me you can keep your exercise classes.
Quality of care, hadn't figured that in, although I did notice that while under my company's insurance my physicians would roll out the red carpet for just a blister on my pinky! Lol.
I also remember reading that if I start on Advantage I can switch to regular Medicare...but I can never go back to Advantage.

So I guess I knew all along Dr Dinky was the best dr I'd ever get while on the Advantage plan.
So now I'm in my eternal state of recovery again and my body is pullin' out all the stops to get me going again, but I don't care what you say Jamie....the only Girdlestone I'll agree to is putting on a girdle, packing it full of stones and then jumping into lake.

 

[Jamie]

I don’t blame you for being suspect about a procedure that sounds a bit barbaric in today world of medicine. Let’s not worry about having to think about that right now and just get you to a decent doctor eventually so you can make the decision that is right for you. In the world of orthopedic surgery, things change and improve constantly. So I’m holding out hope there is a solution that will work for you once you get new eyes and expertise on your hip.

I did do some reading just now to make sure I was current on the rules with switching between regular Medicare and the Advantage plans. You’ll need to be prepared that you’ve missed the best opportunity to have Medigap insurance. That was right when you initially signed up for Medicare at age 65. For the 6 months after you enrolled in Medicare initially, you would have been able to get a gap policy with no questions about existing conditions or health history. Unfortunately now that you’ve missed that window, there will be lots of questions and the possibility that a company you are interested will decline to insure you. I hadn’t realized that was the case and I’m sorry about that for you. If you ever feel the need to beat up on somebody, I suggest that guy who talked you into the idea that because you were healthy at age 65, you’d always be that way. My guess is he had some connection with one or more of the Advantage companies….or just plain didn’t understand what it means to have an aging body. Things happen….usually when you least expect it and most people are very thankful to have that security of the gap coverage. But this doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to find something that works for you. You just may have to do a little more looking. I have no doubt that you are up for this challenge and we’ll help as much as possible.

 

[Gray Horse]

Not sure you should be out picking up Dog poop, you should be resting that leg while soft tissue tightens up. Are you in a brace to keep from dislocating? Please be careful.

 

[Layla]

Please take care of yourself, danelady.
Isn't there someone you can hire to do that task once or twice a week for a time? There's always the possibility of tripping on a lawn with rabbit holes or divots hidden in the grass. I don't think your leg can take much more...
Fingers crossed that you can rest, heal and find someone to help you once and for all. I have zero faith in that possibility with your current surgeon. I am very concerned about you and your future, something has to change.
@danelady

 

[danelady]

Thank you all, but I really do take precautions and anyway my silly girl has always used one area to go it, makes it that much easier. I'm still too unsteady to use just the cane and my trusty walker offers perfect support as I shuffle ever so slowly across the yard. I hang a bag on it, lay my grabber across the front of it for when I will invariably drop my tools. Last but not least, I have the professional poop scooping tools of the trade one needs to keep from injuring oneself: a long handled rake and pan. Sometimes I close my eyes and just stand there, holding onto the walker and soaking up some vitamin D in the form of sunshine.

Today I took Valkyrie on a slow drive in the desert to check and see how far along the saguaro blooms are....and they are coming!
We also passed a few ornery looking cows giving us some side eye as a warning to stay away from their baby!

I find myself getting so stressed and anxious when I'm at home, there are way more bad memories here now than good ones. I hear my torturous screams still echoing inside the walls and I wonder when the next episode will be. Will I be in bed, in a chair.....on the toilet?

 

[myglasshalffull]

Please take it easy...we all are worried for you.

 

[lanstan]

I am so happy when I see you have posted. We love to hear from you good or bad. You have such a wonderful personality!I trust your judgement. I realize when you have had your dislocations a lot of the times it's just when you are sitting. (cant say a lot of the times to very many people!!!) My husband did one trick for me and maybe others will use it too. He got some velcro and put it on the side of my walker so my grabber was always there. Maybe a friend can do that for you!

 

[indie]

My sincere prayers, to give you more courage to face everything, and above all your fighting spirits be kept alive. Kudos champion.

 

[Gerard2018]

Reading though your post brought back to mind my uncle, who also had a fused spine and hip replacement, who also had multiple dislocations. it turned out that his spine was fused in such a way, that when he got up from most chairs, his hips had to pick up the mobility, and at times the angle was right for it to pop out of place.
The orthopedic doc that told him that replaced the implant with a special cup and a femor stem that can swing around in a sleeve if I recall.
He was fine after that.

 

[Jamie]

@Gerard2018 ….that’s interesting. I’m not familiar with a prosthesis like you describe, but would like to research it in more depth. Any additional information you can provide would be helpful….surgeon, implant manufacturer, location where surgery was done….would be great. Or….even better….if you could somehow get your uncle to join BoneSmart and post, that would be fabulous!

 

[Gray Horse]

I am so happy when I see you have posted. We love to hear from you good or bad. You have such a wonderful personality!I trust your judgement. I realize when you have had your dislocations a lot of the times it's just when you are sitting. (cant say a lot of the times to very many people!!!) My husband did one trick for me and maybe others will use it too. He got some velcro and put it on the side of my walker so my grabber was always there. Maybe a friend can do that for you!

I have a constraint liner by Stryker.

 

[Jamie]

I believe danelady has already had at least one type of constraint cup in her hip. It didn’t help with the dislocation problem.

 

[Gerard2018]

@Gerard2018 ….that’s interesting. I’m not familiar with a prosthesis like you describe, but would like to research it in more depth. Any additional information you can provide would be helpful….surgeon, implant manufacturer, location where surgery was done….would be great. Or….even better….if you could somehow get your uncle to join BoneSmart and post, that would be fabulous!

A Dr Uvenfthurth (spelling?) in Columbus did his surgery. modular Stem

 

[Jamie]

@Gerard2018 I couldn’t find anyone that matched or even was similar to the name you typed when I did a search. Too bad.

 

[danelady]

Guten Tag! Buenos Dias! Bonjour mes amis!
Ciao amici!
Night before last I got out of bed, walked to the bathroom and walked back to bed again....no wheelchair, no walker, no cane! I had the wall and a chair to steady me in case I got wobbly. It feels great to know that my body is STILL capable of putting itself back together and once again walk upright like I'm supposed to.

I still have to remind myself of all the times I thought I was done dislocating since getting my new, fancy schmancy, custom built acetabulum....I mean what would you think?
Then I got my new, fancy schmancy Zimmer constrained liner to no avail. So I'm feeling incredible....again, but that doesn't mean it will last. I am trying real hard to keep it together, though.

I didn't go in for my follow up with Dr Dinky, if you remember I said I was never going back to a dr that will lie and blame me for his incompetence BUT I still have the dressing on and the stitches need to come out so I go to his office in the am and then we are done. Thankfully the incision appears to have completely closed, no dripping or leaking like it has for the last few months.

I gotta try real, real hard not to say ANYTHING because that will just open the flood gates and who know what I'll say then, lol.

After he changed the femoral component back in February, fracturing my femur in the process, it felt so unsteady, like it was about to come out. He told me he moved it out 9mm but it felt horrible. I told him it felt weird but it really felt like it was about to dislocate again, and guess what, lol. Anyway, either someone more experienced put it back together or Dr Dinky was sick and tired of seeing my butt in his face and slapped the hip back together, no 9mm, no Girdlestone, just bing, bang boom. I gotta tell ya, it feels stable again, like the ball is seated properly....but hey, what do I know about how it feels?

Been thinkin' bout all of you but the more I do the tirederer (lol) I get. Every time I get some semblance of neatness in here, I wind up back in the hospital and a couple of weeks recovering. That means I come home and toss everything into a pile in the corner, my laundry basket over flows and I wake up choking on dog hair because I'm not sweeping it up as often as I should, lol.
I'm getting on top of the mess once again and have a lot of stuff to bring to the thrift store but it is so very overwhelming right now.

I am actually working on a portrait right now, getting better after each dislocation because I can't do much else, lol.
Take care, gonna answer a couple of messages on my next break. Or I might fall asleep so I can get up early and leave.
Love you all!!!